THE mystery behind who paid for disgraced footballer Dani Alves’ $1million (£850,000) bail has reportedly been revealed.
Alves finally managed to stump up enough cash to walk free from prison on Monday, 25, after days of speculation over where the money was going to come from.
Despite earning over £45million across his successful career, Alves had his bank accounts frozen when he was sat in his jail cell meaning he couldn’t fund his own release.
But Spanish journalist Marisa Martín Blazquez has seemingly spilled the beans on Alves’ saviour – a Brazilian magazine.
Blazquez made the shocking revelation when speaking on Fiesta and claims they offered him the entire wad of money in exchange for an exclusive interview.
Blazquez claimed: “The magazine, known in Brazil, does great reports on important people in Brazil, but also internationally.
read more in Dani Alves
“There are a series of requirements that must be met.
“An interview would be being conducted as a video report on Alves’ story.
“[The payment] would have been an advance as payment for that documentary-type interview that is being done.”
One of the requirements Alves seemingly agreed to is to ensure his wife Joana Sanz will also speak to the magazine.
Most read in Football
The couple have been through a very turbulent past two years as Alves publicly admitted to cheating on Sanz with the woman who alleges she was raped.
Sanz asked for a divorce as the star faced his rape trial but she did go on to back Alves in court claiming she was with him the night of the accusations.
But it is currently uncertain what the pair’s status is after Joana accidentally shared a bizarre letter from her rapist ex where he declares his love for her from jail.
She also momentarily deactivated her Instagram account just hours after he was granted release on bail.
But Spanish media claims Sanz went to see her ex at his home just days after his release.
The former Brazilian icon was convicted of raping a woman at a Barcelona nightclub and sentenced to four-and-a-half-years in jail.
He has constantly said the sexual encounter was consensual.
WHO COULD’VE PAID BAIL?
The source of the large sum of cash Alves needed to escape prison has been hotly debated ever since the ex Barcelona ace was allowed to leave on bail.
The figure was originally thought to be getting paid for by pal Neymar Jr’s father, said LaVanguardia.
Neymar da Silva Santos Sr had been expected to help Alves pay the money to secure his freedom, but he issued a statement denying he would hand over any cash after coming under political pressure in his homeland.
He said: “For us, for my family, this matter is over. Full stop.”
Neymar’s father helped Alves out during his trial with other payments such as compensating the victim.
But Neymar Sr said t’s a “different situation” now because a three judge panel at the Barcelona Provincial Court ruled against Alves at his trial.
“With the Spanish court ruling for his conviction, there’s speculation and an attempt to associate my name and my son’s to a matter that is not within our reach any longer,” Neymar’s father said in a family statement.
He added that he hopes Alves “can find all the answers he looks for in his own family.”
The other person who was heavily rumoured to have assisted Alves was his former team mate at Barcelona, Memphis Depay.
The Dutchman’s agent quickly shut down these reports however saying “this is fake news. It is false news, it is not true at all”.
ALVES’ BAIL CONTROVERSY
The Barcelona court allowed Alves to walk free from his Brians 2 jail despite his recent rape conviction.
Alves spent just weeks behind bars but his lawyer Ines Guardiola managed to win a bid to appeal the four-and-a-half year jail sentence.
Where he is now living in the comfort of his £4million home in Esplugues de LLobregat – a 25-minute drive west of Barcelona – as his lawyers go through the appeal process, reports say.
The bail conditions set by the court say Alves must stay at least 1,000m away from the home of the victim or any other place she frequently goes.
He is also banned from ever contacting her and must handover his Brazilian and Spanish passports.
The court feared Alves could leave Spain and travel to his native Brazil to try and avoid serving anymore jail time.
The 23-year-old victim’s lawyer, Ester Garcia, described Alves’ release as “scandalous”, branding it as “justice for the rich”.
As Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva also condemned Alves’ release.
He said: “The money that Daniel Alves has, the money that someone can lend him, cannot buy the offence that a man does to a woman by committing rape.”
It comes as residents of Barcelona – where Alves was once seen as an icon – blasted the court’s ruling to free him on bail.
One woman said: “I think it’s shameful and they are showing once again that woman don’t matter, that our rights don’t matter.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
“If you have money and you are a man, you can do whatever you want and you won’t have to pay.”
As a man also gave his view saying “evil” things can’t be forgotten about simply because of money.
Alves’ court case
In a trial held in Barcelona in February 2024, Alves denied the allegation of rape against him saying the sexual encounter was completely consensual.
The three-day trial saw the victim, witnesses, and experts testify.
His accuser told the prosecution she had willingly entered the bathroom with him, but was then forced to stay after wanting to leave.
She told the court Alves allegedly slapped and insulted her before forcing her into having sex.
Alves did confirm he had sex with the woman in the nightclub’s toilet but insisted it was consensual.
Alves was found guilty of rape and sentenced to four-and-a-half years behind bars.
The court also ordered Alves to pay £130,000 (€150k) in compensation to the victim.
He also faced a nine-and-a-half-year restraining order from the accuser.
The court said in a statement: “The sentence considers that it has been proven that the victim did not consent and that there is evidence, in addition to the testimony of the plaintiff, to consider the rape proven.”
Following the sentence, Alves was sent to Brians 2 prison in Barcelona.
Despite filing for divorce in 2023 after the explosive accusations surfaced, Joana did back Alves when she took to the stand.
During her testimony on February 6, 2024, Joana claimed they were not legally divorced and that she had been with Alves on the night of the accusation.
Joana told the court Alves “smelled of alcohol” and “he bumped into several pieces of furniture and collapsed on the bed” after arriving home from the night out.
But she said she didn’t want to talk to him because of “the state he was in”.
A disgraced Alves publicly apologised to Joana during an interview from his prison cell in 2023.
He told Spanish reporter Mayka Navarro: “The only person I have to ask for forgiveness is my wife, Joana Sanz.
“I have already done that here in prison, but I have to do it publicly, because the story is public, the offence I caused her is public and she deserves that public apology.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
